All reporting, photos and video by Michael Levy and Batya Kagan

On Monday, August 11, a group of Jewish clergy occupied the street in front of the Israeli Consul's office in San Francisco, in protest against continuing Israeli military action in Gaza and the starving of its people.

About 18 rabbis and cantors entered the street after speaking in front of the barricaded building, in opposition to Netanyahyu's plan to re-occupy the Gaza Strip and to express dismay at the unrelieved starvation of the people of Gaza enforced by the Israeli government. The civil disobedience action yielded no arrests, although the group escalated from blocking Montgomery Street to sitting in the intersection of Montgomery and Sacramento for approximately half an hour of singing and prayer.

Video: Rabbis hold down the intersection at Montgomery and Sacramento, but police made no arrests.

The action was initiated by Rabbi Allan Berkowitz, ED of Faith In Action East Bay, who initially proposed the idea to the Northern California Board of Rabbis, a multi-denominational Jewish clergy peer support network. Other event planners included Rabbi David Cooper, Emeritus of Kehilla Community Synagogue in Piedmont, Rabbi Andy Straus, retired Northwest Regional Director of the Jewish peace group J Street, and Rabbi Chaim “Howie” Schneider from Aptos, who also brought in four progressive pro-Israel, pro-Palestine groups to support the action.

Also present from the Santa Cruz area were Rabbi Paula Marcus of Temple Beth El and Rabbi Chel Mandell of the new, left progressive Tzimtzum Jewish community in Santa Cruz County.

Although numerous Jewish organizations have spoken forcefully against the destruction of lives and infrastructure in Gaza over the past 22 months since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, the vast majority of Jewish clergy in the United States have been reluctant to speak out directly against the actions of the Netanyahu regime.

The current state of starvation in Gaza, and the resultant international outcry, have started to shift this reticence. One example is the recent Statement on Starvation in Gaza by the Union of Reform Judaism, which says in part, "While it is imperative that Israel and the U.S. resume diplomacy to bring home all hostages and end this war, denying basic humanitarian aid crosses a moral line. Blocking food, water, medicine, and power—especially for children—is indefensible."

That sentiment was echoed by the official statement of the clergy at the San Francisco protest. Reading the statement on Monday, Rabbi Schneider said, "Each of us comes summoned to not stand idly by. There are many issues around which we may disagree, but we join together today under common moral, ethical, and spiritual values that we share, to oppose Israel's destruction of Palestinian human rights."

Rabbi Mandell of the antizionist Tzimtzum Jewish community in Santa Cruz shared the desire to at least come together on stopping harm to Palestinians now.

“Even though we have different political and ethical stances, it’s important for Zionist rabbis and antizionist rabbis to come together in the name of stopping the starvation and genocide in Gaza,” said Mendell.

“It is more important for me to focus on the bigger issue and building coalition even if we have different beliefs at the end of the day. It’s not about me, it’s about Palestinians.”

Mendell thinks many rabbis and Jewish organizations standing up now for Palestinians should have done so long before, but they welcome the activism now.

“While it’s disappointing that it took two years for some leaders and community to come around, we need them now and will continue to need them moving forward in this struggle for Palestinian liberation,” they said.

Batya Kagan is an ecological activist, therapist and Jewish dialogue facilitator.

Michael Levy is a Santa Cruz musician, promoter of non-violent communication, and earth-based values. Michael has lived in the San Lorenzo watershed for over 40 years.

Join Ami Chen Mills on the Moment of Truth show on KSQD Monday evening (Aug. 18) at 6 pm Pacific Time as she continues with additional reporting on this event, including on-site interviews with some of the rabbis who attended and Rabbi Chaim “Howie” Schneider, who was there … along with middle eastern scholar Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and Director of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco, and author of the book Tinderbox: US Foreign Policy and the Roots of Terrorism. Livestream at www.KSQD.org or 89.5, 89.7 and 90.7 FM. Your calls and emails welcome.

Past relevant shows are below and find more at the Moment of Truth with Ami Chen Mills podcast at Apple, Spotify and YouTube.